ARI LAHTI was elected as president of the FA of Finland. Lahti, 54, who was elected at the association's extraordinary general assembly on Saturday, succeeds PERTTI ALAJA, who passed away in August (UEFA). ... Consulting firm SRi announced its Asia operations will expand with the launch of a Shanghai office, which will be led by JOSHUA LIU and ZHANG TING. SRi works with major sports, media and entertainment properties including AC Milan, IMG, Infront China, Riot Games and Fox (SRi). ... Singapore Sports Hub announced acting CEO OON JIN TEIK was "entrusted with the top job." Oon was the company's COO before he had to step in temporarily as acting CEO when MANU SAWHNEY resigned suddenly on May 25 (TODAY ONLINE, 1/22). ... Bundesliga side Mainz 05 elected STEFAN HOFMANN as chair on Sunday. Hofmann was successful in the first ballot against SILVIO AITA, JÜRGEN DOETZ and EVA-MARIA FEDERHENN (Mainz 05).
COACHES/MANAGERS: Ligue 1 side Toulouse Manager PASCAL DUPRAZ and assistant coach OLIVIER SADRAN resigned from the club. MICHAËL DEBÈVE took charge of the club on Monday (Toulouse). ... League One club Oxford United sacked Manager PEP CLOTET. The 40-year-old Spaniard, who took over in July, was dismissed following Oxford's 2-1 loss at home to Bury on Saturday. His assistant, DEREK FAZACKERLEY, was "put in charge of first-team affairs until a successor is appointed" (BBC, 1/22). ... Top14 side Ospreys parted company with head coach STEVE TANDY after six years. Tandy, 38, replaced SEAN HOLLEY in Feb. '12 and led the Ospreys to the Pro12 title that season. At the start of this season, Ospreys officials said that Tandy would be in charge until at least '20, "but the team has struggled" (BBC, 1/22). ... Bundesliga side Hamburg hired BERND HOLLERBACH as coach on Monday to replace MARKUS GISDOL. The club said that 48-year-old Hollerbach signed a deal through June '19 (AP, 1/22).
